Hi, I have received a job offer from Roche and they told me they have an agreement with SWICA. We are a family of 4, me (42), my wife 35 and two kinds under 2.

I am completely lost with the Swiss system. I would like to know:

A. Does anyone know about the Roche/Swica agreement?
B. How much can I expect to pay monthly for health insurance? Any payments besides the monthly fees?
C. What would be a reasonable plan? What things would not be covered?
D. Any other company suggested as cheaper/better than SWICA?
E. Would my coverage work worldwide?

There are a millions threads on the topic.

Just thinking Basic insurance.. Supplementary is additional but not very expensive and optional .. Everything you will ever "need" is in the basic. But if your deal offers a good supplementary plan, take it, you may be denied it later.. but that's a whole other thread.

A. Unknown but my company as example pays 200/month towards MY insurance, nothing for family.

B. Depends on deductible & company, large deductible = lower monthly payment.. Think 300 for 2.5k deductible and 400 for a 300 deductible and you're in the ballpark.. For one adult.. Kids are more like 150 with zero deductible each.
Other stuff to pay, well always the deductible first and then 10% up to 700 of the remaining.. So if you have a 2.5k deductible and you get knocked down by a car.. You will likely pay over 4k towards the treatment.

C.Everything you "need" is in all basic plans.. The reason some cost more/less is the service offered, like paying in advance and claiming back, online services, do they speak English etc.

D: They all offer the same medical service by law, it's the service wrapped around it that varies. Price varies only by 50 +/- per month, choose the service you want. I use Helsana because I like the service they provide.

E. Yes you have cover equivalent to CH worldwide with some caveats.. Like cost, these can be topped up with supplementary insurance is needed.

You need to decide your deductible and your supplementary.
You're employer probably has an agent with Swica who can explain it all .. But be aware they will also try to sell you additional products :-)

Welcome to the forum. John H has pretty much covered it. The basic insurance cover is pretty comprehensive; what it won't cover is things like having a private room in a hospital, dental/eye care, etc. You'd need to check with Roche/Swica on what the actual company policy may or may not include.

You can play around here

www.comparis.ch

to get an idea of what policy types are available and compare prices as well.

Worldwide cover is for emergencies only and is up to twice the equivalent cost in Switzerland. This may or may not be enough cover depending on where you travel to so taking out travel insurance on top is still good to do. You can either check whether your Swiss insurer offers travel insurance as well or go with another company offering worldwide coverage for your trip. You're not obliged to take out a Swiss insurer's travel insurance.

Roche offer with SWICA is likely to be very competitive.
Trying to compare on the websites can be difficult as there are so many choices to be made.
You can always look around at leisure when you are here -changing health insurer is generally easy for basic health insurance.

Been with SWICA for almost 09 years now. Very happy. Would recommend.

The Roche offer is most likely for the non-mandatory, extra coverage. AFAIK companies are not allowed to make such deals for the mandatory basic coverage.

Health insurance in Switzerland comes in "packages". Everybody needs the mandatory basic package (Grundversicherung KVG, Assurance de base LAMal), it can be from any insurance company, and all insurance companies must provide it no question asked regardless of any pre-conditions.

On top of the mandatory basic package you can get extra coverage which might included dental insurance for kids (dental insurance for adults is not a Swiss thing), private ward, holistic treatments and other quackery, etc. etc.

The premiums for the basic packages are government approved, vary by provider, canton, age, flexibility of choice of doctor (unrestricted, HMO, assigned GP, etc.), and annual deductible. They are published here: https://www.priminfo.admin.ch/de/praemien It is the same premium regardless of your overall health and pre-conditions.
The governing law is the KVG/LAMal https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifi...073/index.html

The extra packages are free market. They are supplementary on top of the mandatory basic insurance. The companies are free to deny coverage for what ever reason. The annual premium of the extra package are not government regulated and can depend on your health, if you have basic coverage with the same company, if all family members have extra coverage, if there are special deals with employer, club, or other insurances (like car insurance) etc.
The governing law is the VVG/LCA https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifi...008/index.html which is the general insurance law.

Be aware that because basic and extra insurance are covered by two different laws cancellation conditions are not the same and can be different.

__________________
"Okay, I just hope we don't wake up on Mars or something surrounded by millions of little squashy guys."

Actually no, in this case Roche will foot the entire bill. Companies have full accident insurance for their employees and the coverage is not limited to company premises.

Yeah ok good point.. I was just making that point of a large bill..

Accident insurance is of course different..

Also, if SWICA has an inexpensive option for extra benefits it might be worth taking. For example, I'm with Helsana and their option "Top" costs only 30 Fr. per month for adults and 12 Fr. for kids, but it's worth it because of things like:
- they will pay for ambulance (not covered by basic insurance);
- you get reimbursed up to 150 Fr. per year for glasses/contact lenses;
- for kids 75% of cost of braces is reimbursed;
and so on.

Hey there,
I have been with SWICA for a year now and my company has an arrangement with them too.

They may be a bit pricey compared to the market but the claims approval process both the time and ease is fantastic!

What you have to pay is dependent on the package (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) that you choose with SWICA in combination with a deductible choise (500, 1500, 2500) in my case.

One thing that I was told when I joined was that if you choose SWICA right away via your employer they don't medically screen you, perhaps as a customer acquisition incentive. If you join them later i.e. after switching from another provider, they may do so. In this case, your premiums will be different as it depends on the health condition.

If there is screening, make sure you go through the form with one of their advisors. You're more likely to get acceptance.

I'm another satisfied customer of Swica. I'm kind of stuck with them now anyway (obviously not for basic). I don't know if other insurers do it, but Swica do not increase your premiums with age. The premium is fixed when you join. Cost of living increases still happen though. They also have a single excess - not one per product.

The basic insurance is semi-free market. We have shopped around to get the best deal - the compulsory part is that you have to have it, the insurers must offer it and as AFAIK the only questions asked are age, sex and post-code. Then there are so many options -franchise, family doctor model etc etc before you even get to supplementary insurance. We have found dental insurance (only pays 50%) to be worth it

offtopic: I have found sonic toothbrush to be worth it (Philips Sonicare in our case). Switched from traditional brushing ca. 10 years ago and haven't had a single caries instance ever since. Also, in the year after I switched I went to my dental hygienist as usual but she said there was nothing to clean, really, no plaque, stones or anything, while each time before she had to use the ultrasound cleaner, scraped, etc...